Aaron Swartz's tragic suicide, following two years of aggressive federal prosecution under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), brought attention to the need to reform this harsh statute. In June, Reps. Zoe Lofgren and Jim Sensenbrenner, along with Sen. Ron Wyden, introduced Aaron's Law, which helps address how the computer crime law has been misused to criminalize all sorts of innocuous behavior of ordinary Internet users and to go after security researchers and others working for the public good. You can join the conversation on Twitter on the #CFAA hashtag.

The CFAA was, as we reported in March, never intended to apply to what Swartz was alleged to have done.

It originally dealt with bank and defense-related intrusions only. But over the years, thanks to constant pressure from the U.S. Department of Justice, the scope of the law slowly crept outward. By the time Swartz was arrested in 2011, the tough federal statute, which was meant to protect national defense secrets, covered everything from Bradley Manning's offenses to violating a Web site's terms of use.

About the author

Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. You can e-mail him or follow him on Twitter as declanm. Declan previously was a reporter for Time and the Washington bureau chief for Wired and wrote the Taking Liberties section and Other People's Money column for CBS News' Web site.
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